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Jul 30, 2021 · 100 Greatest Music Videos — from Adele's 'Hello' to ZZ Top's 'Gimme All Your Lovin',' Rolling Stone's picks for the best music videos ever.
- 3 min
- David Browne,Mankaprr Conteh,Brenna Ehrlich,David Fear,Maria Fontoura,Jon Freeman,Elisabeth Garber-Paul,Andy Greene,Kory Grow,Brian Hiatt,Christian Hoard,Jeff Ihaza,Jason Newman,Angie Martoccio,Jerry Portwood,Claire Shaffer,Rob Sheffield,Hank Shteamer,Brittany Spanos,Simon Vozick-Levinson
- Beyoncé, Lemonade
- Michael Jackson, "Thriller"
- Rage Against The Machine, "Sleep Now in The Fire"
- Madonna, "Material Girl"
- A-Ha, "Take on Me"
- Peter Gabriel, "Sledgehammer"
- Prince, "When Doves Cry"
- George Michael, "Freedom '90"
- Pearl Jam, "Jeremy"
- Missy Elliott, "Work It"
Beyoncé didn't stop at one music video. She made an entire visual album and completely changed the game with Lemonade, which chronicled her marital struggles with husband Jay-Z as well as other traumas in her life, including her father's infidelity and her own miscarriages. While her self-titled record was incredibly influential, Lemonade shows Bey...
Michael Jackson made an entire short film set to his hit song, and it became a Halloweenstaple (and even a favorite at weddings). Related: Michael Jackson's Best Music Videos
Rage Against the Machine got the New York Stock Exchange to shut down early. Don't say these guys don't walk the walk.
Madge sends up Marilyn Monroe in this classic clip (and looks stunning in that pink gown). Related: Madonna's Best Videos of All Time
The classic animation-live action hybrid of this infectious tune, which costars a Princess Diana look-alike (perhaps inadvertently!) is forever etched (and sketched) in our minds.
Another animation breakthrough, "Sledgehammer" made Peter Gabriel an MTV staple. The stop-motion graphics (including trains, faces made of fruit and dancing headless chickens) are the stuff dreams, and sometimes nightmares, are made of.
Princeemerges from a bathtub. Other things also happen, but this is the most memorable image, which was relatively groundbreaking at the time of its release.
George Michael burns his iconic "Faith"-era leather jacket in iconic imagery from "Freedom '90," an epic eff-you to his label at the time...but chances are what most people remember are the supermodels: Cindy Crawford in a bathtub, Linda Evangelista in a turtleneck, Naomi Campbell strutting in lingerie and headphones, Christy Turlington in a giant ...
Pearl Jam classic "Jeremy" was iconic for its depiction of violence at the time, and the band released an uncensored version in 2020.
The Nokias! The bees! The Kangol hats!Alyson Stoner! Since "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" and its legendary trash bag ensemble, Missy Elliott has been ahead of her time musically and aesthetically, making serious visual statements (see her slavery vignette here) in party anthems.
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Sep 12, 2023 · Prince, Madonna, Duran Duran, Beyoncé, R.E.M., Taylor Swift, and Sinead O'Connor are just some of the artists who make our list of the best videos ever.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine
- Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance” (dir. Francis Lawrence, 2009) By the time she crawled out of your mom’s Volvo roof box to deliver her first rah-rah-rahs, Lady Gaga had already hosted a poolside orgy, transformed the subway into her debaucherous lair, and sought poisonous revenge on Alexander Skarsgård for throwing her off the edge of a castle.
- Missy Elliott, “Work It” (dir. Dave Meyers, 2002) While most of her contemporaries settled for music videos that made them look tough or sexy, Missy Elliott got strange with hers, and “Work It” is a perfect distillation of her idiosyncratic vision of warped world.
- D’Angelo, “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)” (dir. Paul Hunter, 2000) Naked as the day he was born, save for a gold chain and bracelet, D’Angelo is the entirety of the simple, single-take video for “Untitled.”
- Beyoncé, “Formation” (dir. Melina Matsoukas, 2016) Beyoncé stopped the world for the umpteenth time when she dropped the explosive song and video for “Formation,” just a day before performing the anthem at Super Bowl 50.
- A-Ha, “Take on Me” (Director: Steve Barron) Thanks in large part to its groundbreaking use of rotoscopic technology, Steve Barron’s video for A-Ha’s 1985 hit “Take on Me” is thoroughly immersive, mixing live action with hand-drawn animation and seamlessly incorporating each of the Norwegian band’s members.
- Madonna, “Vogue” (Director: David Fincher) Look closely when that butler brushes off the bannister. Nope, no dust there; the finger pulls clean. Those who objected to Madonna’s co-opting two vibrant New York scenes—ball culture and the house underground—had every reason to cast any available aspersions once the music video for “Vogue” hit the airwaves.
- Björk, “Big Time Sensuality” (Director: Stéphane Sednaoui) Björk’s often high-concept videos sometimes fall short of the rich and intense imagery that her songs conjure all on their own.
- Childish Gambino, “This Is America” (Director: Hiro Murai) Directed by Hiro Murai, Donald Glover’s principal collaborator on FX’s Atlanta, “This Is America” shares with many of that show’s best episodes a knack for getting under viewers’ skins, presenting highly charged images with just enough ambiguity to encourage social media reactions of the “WTF did I just watch” variety.
Jan 17, 2022 · Our list of the best music videos of all time run from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to Radiohead’s “Karma Police”.
Jan 17, 2024 · Compiling a list of 40 of the best music videos ever is no easy task, but somebody had to do it! This list includes timeless visuals from a variety of different genres. So whether you consider yourself a fan of today's pop music or classic rock or hip-hop or alternative music, this list is for you.
